1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for preventing the loss of a portable terminal such as a mobile phone, and more particularly, to an apparatus for preventing the loss of a portable terminal by outputting a warning sound notifying the loss of the portable terminal in accordance with a luminous intensity, which is a degree of exposure to light, before the actual loss occurs, thereby preventing the loss in advance, and to a method of preventing the loss of a portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, with miniaturization of electronic devices and development in communication technology, the penetration rate of portable devices such as electronic dictionaries, mobile phones, and the like has been rapidly increasing. In addition, the portable devices have become more convenient in terms of portability.
Despite the convenience of portability, often times, user may lose a portable device, for example, when it accidentally slips out of his or her pocket, and so on.
To this end, a conventional apparatus for preventing the loss of a portable terminal according to the prior art will be described with reference to FIG. 1.
FIG. 1 is a configuration view illustrating the conventional apparatus for preventing the loss of a portable terminal.
The conventional apparatus for preventing the loss of a portable terminal shown in FIG. 1 includes a transmitter unit 21, a receiver unit 22, and an output unit 23. The transmitter unit 21 generates and transmits a predetermined magnitude of magnetic force. The receiver unit 22 measures a magnetic change of the magnetic force in accordance with a distance to the transmitter unit 21, and outputs a warning control signal CTL when the magnetic change is greater than a reference signal. The output unit 23 outputs a warning signal OUT-S in response to the warning control signal CTL.
The above-described construction is disclosed in Korea Patent Application Publication No. 2006-0029561.
However, the conventional apparatus for preventing the loss of a portable terminal utilizes magnetic force, which may cause malfunction in an environment with large surrounding magnetic changes such as in taxi, subway and structures of metal frames.